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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
As I understand it, there will be 6 minutes of "new footage" and it's an IMAX exclusive for the first couple months. Then everybody else gets it, maybe. The added footage thing seems to be a first for Disney on a re-release.
Was Beauty And The Beast done all digitally, ie: could they "re-render" it to get better picture quality? I worry about quality from just printing a 15/70 print, even from a good 35mm negative.
Beauty and the Beast was traditional Disney animation. It can't be re-rendered. You are just supposed to be in absolute awe that it is now on IMAX. Are you?
And of course, John Leguizamo should be in all future 70mm films. Right Joe?
I know that ALIEN opened in 70mm exclusively, and also, I believe, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. I'm not sure about THE ROSE, but that may also have opened in 70mm theatres THEN later in 35.
Ah, the good old days.
BATB might be the longest 15/70 feature yet. IMDB lists it at 84 minutes, and they are adding a song back to the film (Human Again, I believe), so it should run longer than that. FANTASIA 2000 lists at 72, and STONES AT THE MAX lists at 89.
I'm looking forward to it on the Giant Screen. Gaston will look marvelous 80' wide!
Mark L.
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"As a moral to young men who come down to the city, don't go round breaking people's tambourines."
AFAIK, although "Beauty and the Beast" was mostly traditional animation with a few computer generated animation sequences, the "ink and paint" was done digitally, so hopefully the original image files will be re-rendered and output to 65mm negative at the higher resolution needed for 15-perf 70mm release. In other words, it WON'T just be a blow-up from the 35mm negative.
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion
Mark L.
As for the state of the picture itself, here is a quote from Disney:
Disney's animators and post-production crew spent more than a year going through the film, scene-by-scene, enhancing backgrounds, improving special effects, and refining character faces and bodies to shine brightly on the giant screen. In addition, to ensure that the "Human Again" sequence would fit in seamlessly with the surrounding film, Disney artists who originally worked on Beauty and the Beast returned to bring the enchanted characters to life. At the same time, producer Don Hahn worked to ensure that the Giant-Screen version of "Beauty and the Beast" would be crystal clear and not simply a grainy blow-up; because all of the images from "Beauty and the Beast" were stored digitally, the colors of the film will appear more lustrous, more vibrant, and more brilliant on the Giant Screen than ever before. This attention to detail will provide audiences with a motion picture experience second-to-none when this all-new version of "Beauty and the Beast" debuts on January 1, 2002.
Mark L.
I never got a chance to see Fantasia 2000 in IMAX (didn't want to drive 500 miles for it) but I like the idea of Disney doing a digital master which, presumably, can be printed to both 35mm and IMAX with adequate resolution. However, I don't like the idea that Hollywood's interest in 70mm is only concerned with special venue projects.
Don't forget about The Lion King in Imax theaters January 2003 and they're doing something with The Black Stallion soon, too. And Dreamworks is re-purposing Shrek in Imax 3D, which will be the first feature-length 3D for Imax.
The list is too long to post here, but you can find it on the BATB site Adam listed above under "TICKETS".
Two surprises from the list. It is booked into a number of dome theatres, and none of the Sony theatres (NY, Chicago, SF) are currently listed.
Mark L.
I was worried about seeing too much grain since it was not originally film in 15/70, but, as Frank Zappa said, "Not a speck of cereal!" So they must have gone back and re-done it. If the whole movie is like the trailer, there's no problem.
Also did my first large format theater servicing (changed an unbelievably heavy HF driver.) It's a bit unnerving to climb up 30 feet of screen, just to get to the left speaker which is only half-way up. There's a center-top speaker, which I hope lasts a long time.
The nearest venue to NYC (as of this post) is at Palisades Center, a giant mall just west of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The Palisades Center IMAX is not affiliated with the Loews megaplex there.
Thank you for the correction, Charles. I used the link www.sonyimax.com, and didn't look closely at the names. www.loewsimax.com doesn't seem to work.
Mark L.
We don't have an IMAX theater, so we can't advertise IMAX. There are a few other IMAX "knock-offs" which is why they advertise it as something other than IMAX. It would be good if you can find out if the format is 15/70 or 8/70 before you pay.
In the BATB trailer, they show the ballroom scene. I think the background (walls, windows, columns, etc.) were done digitally, while the charactors were drawn with traditional animation. Interestingly, the background looked poor compared to the charactors. Not grainy, but a little too far out of focus, and "false" somehow... purely subjective on my part, I admit.....
It has been 3360 days since the last post.
quote: was the last to postIt really is too bad the movie producers are not doing this. Many films get exclusive engagements before they go ultra wide.
As far as I'm concerned, a release like Far and Away should have been released to 70mm equipped theaters for the first 2 months and then all of the run-of-the-mill 35mm theaters should be able to get it
quote:Tom.
But talking theatre as just an advertising market for DVD, cable and rental... it will be hard.
quote: Ian ParfreyWhen you say most successful large format, for documentaries right?
The only commercially successful large format, Imax, is hell bent on totally fucking up what was once a bankable, QUALITY product.
quote: Ian ParfreyFrom what I understand, it is very difficult to shoot films on IMAX..As for animals and hubble stuff, that is different.
If you have the greatest format ever invented in cinema, then damn-well shoot the stuff in large format.
quote: Ian ParfreyTo date there has not been a full IMAX Hollywood film. Right? Yes the images are stunning but the overall cost of all this is just way too much to make it really worthwhile.
Tom.
I wouldn't say that Imax (15/70 & 48 fps) is the highest quality format just for docos &tc. I would say it's the highest fidelity motion picture system on par with Showscan (5/70 @ 60 fps). Incidently, the first Showscan projectors were modified Century's. Ahhh, my beloved Century's. To see and hear 70mm @ 60 frames a second is one thing I will never forget.
You are correct in saying that there are difficulties in shooting Imax 15/70 and these can be summarised thus-:
* The most obvious one is camera size/weight. The rawstock alone weighs more than some complete camera systems.
* The limited depth of field due to frame size. This is most applicable to Showscan.
* Strobing due to the distances moved on the massive screens. Panning must be very slow in order to reduce strobing as much as possible as there were many early reports of nausea and some epilepsy in patrons. Object movement can move 6-8 feet in one frame to the next.
* Raw stock costs.
* Mechanical inertia of the stock in the magazines. This makes the aforementioned panning difficult in some circumstances and it has not been unknown for the inertia to rip a camera to pieces- ditto more so for Showscan.
It would actually be HARDER to shoot doco-style compared to a locked off studio shoot.
But for all their difficulties, my God the images are stunning! Now, THAT is something that NO home video setup will ever beat.*
Manny is so on the money there! That 'Follow the Money' mindset will kill off any ambition, originality and creativity left in the movie industry- and we will all be the poorer for it....except the suits. They always seem to get their bonuses before fleeing companies they screwed up.
"Coming Soon to a Theatre near you!..... Manny On The Money...rated PG"
*- The suits at Imax are doing there damndest to screw it up regardless.
quote: Wikipedia
Wings of Courage is a 1995 American-French drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The 40-minute picture was written by Annaud with Alain Godard. It was the world's first dramatic picture shot in the IMAX-format. Additionally, it was the first 3D IMAX fiction film.
The film is an account of the real-life story of early airmail pilot Henri Guillaumet (Craig Sheffer), whose small plane crashes in the Andes, forcing him to trek back to civilization on foot. Meanwhile the story follows his family and friends at home, and their growing concern for him. Elizabeth McGovern, Val Kilmer and Tom Hulce also star.
quote: Ian ParfreyIn the case of music CD the mastering practices are so bad (deliberate clipping of the audio waves and various compression techniques to make the music louder) you're screwed no matter how you buy the music. In technical terms the quality level is badly compromised -this is regardless of the fact current technology can allow never before seen levels of quality in popular music.
Got to a record shop, browse and by a full bit-depth cd OR download a compressed-as-all-fuck mp3. Who wins here? Certainly not the record store owners.. or the consumer.
quote:
Rule Nineteen: Short Films Awards
DEFINITIONS
A short film is defined as an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits.
quote: Manny KnowlesThose were the days, of course, when most theaters were playing double features, and it wasn't quite as offensive to have a 45-minute feature on the second half of the bill.
I wonder how many people would pay $14 to see a 45min "feature" at the Arclight in Los Angeles...